Death of man who cut his own throat sparked mental health review

Vicki Newman

THE tragic death of a man who cut his throat in front of his parents led to a review by mental health bosses, an inquest has heard.

David Young inflicted the fatal wound on himself in the early hours of July 3, 2012, just minutes after being released from police custody.

The 34-year-old had driven to South Shields police station the afternoon before to ask for help with his drug problem.

The father-of-one was subsequently arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs and was taken into custody.

At about 2am, he was taken to the home of his parents, Ann and Leslie Young, in Fennel Grove, South Shields.

Mr Young, who had a history of mental health issues and amphetamine abuse, cut his throat with a kitchen knife and was later pronounced dead at South Tyneside District Hospital.

An inquest, being led by South Tyneside coroner Terence Carney, has heard that Mr Young, of Dene Mews, Sunderland, reached out for help on a number of occasions.

It has also been heard that Mr Young’s GP, Dr Aninda Banerjea, of Deerness Park Health Centre, in Sunderland, had contacted mental health services on Mr Young’s request.

Mental health nurse Carol Giles, of Sunderland’s Early Intervention in Psychosis Service, said she received the letter, but added that Mr Young did not meet the organisation’s criteria.

She said: “There was no evidence of any ongoing psychotic symptoms.

“It seemed to point to his difficulties being around his drug use.”

Mrs Giles said she wrote to Dr Banerjea and Mr Young outlining that he should contact drug services such as North East Council for Addictions, and that if after he was clean of drugs, he still showed symptoms, he should re-contact them. She said that if, from the evidence provided and from accessible records, a patient did not meet the service’s criteria, it was normal that they were not seen face-to-face, but that this had now changed, although the criteria for whether people were eligible for the service had stayed the same.

She said: “That has changed in that we now see, face-to-face, every patient that is referred to do an assessment.”

Mrs Giles was asked by a jury member when this had come into action, and she said it had been “after this case”.

Mr Carney said: “Is it correct to say it was the result of a review around this case?”